Fountain pen



w. c. FORD FOUNTAIN PEN Oct. 11, 1932.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 24. 1932 ATTORNEY W. C. FORD Oct. 11, 1932.

FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Feb. 24, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2,1 111 n'I/Il M k TRriEY Patented Oct. 11, 1932 warren STATES PArENr orricr;

FOUNTAIN PEN Application filed February 24, 1932. Serial No, 594,791.

This invention relates to fountain pens of the type in which there is inthe barrel :1 rubber bag or sack which connects with a duct under thepin point, such bag or sack serving as a reservoir for the ink. In thegreat majority of this type of pens there is a filling lever pivoted,formed and located in a slot which extends lengthwise through thebarrel, the outer part of such lever being substantially flush with theoutside of the barrel, the lever including a short arm in front of thepivot and a long arm back of the pivot, meaning by front the end of thepen from which the pen point projects.

In such pens, the tip end of the long arm of the lever is usually madethin and there is a recess in the barrel so that when the pen is to befilled, the thumb nail can be inserted under such end and the long armraised and the short arm depressed thus compressing the ink bag.

By long arm is meant the handle arm and by short arm, the pressure arm.

vVhen so compressed, the pen point and duct are inserted in an inkbottlebelow the level of the ink therein and, while in this position,the long arm is returned to its normal position thus releasing thepressure. of the short arm on the ink bag whereby a suction is producedand the pen is filled.

This method of filling as a rule requires that the pen shall be held inboth hands one hand, usually the left, manipulating the filling leverand the other'hand steadying the pen when introduced into the ink.

When the pen is unused for some time, the ink dries up around the penpoint and duct and in order to start the fiow either the pen must beshaken with the danger of spattering ink or the filling lever must beoperated to force some of the ink out at the point.

My invention is a lever operating member which is slidable andpreferably turnable on the barrel of the pen and which has an elas ticpressure arm which terminates in a contact member adapted to engage theshort arm of the filling lever at any point from the pivot to the .endof the short arm and to thereby operate the lever with the use of onehand only.

By suitably positioning this lever operating member, the short arm canbe slightly compressed holding the pen in one hand and by operating onefinger only so as to start the ink or by elsewhere positioning and/ orotherwise using one finger of one hand, the short arm can be movedsuificiently to compress the ink bag for filling the pen.

The great advantage of this is that the pen can be held steadily in onehand while being filled and can be pushed into the ink just far enoughto cover the point and duct but not far enough to soil the barrel and atthe same time or at the right time the filling lever can be manipulatedto fill the pen.

Besides this, when the ink has dried out more or less from the point,the pen held in one hand can be pressed upon the paper in such a Way asto separate the pen point from the duct and at the same time theoperating lever can be so manipulated by one finger of one hand that asmall amount of ink is forced out from the ink bag down between thepoint and the duct and on account of these being slightly separated, theink fiows down underneath the pen point where it is in contact with thepaper instead of working up through the usual vent hole at the top ofthe pen point.

Another advantage of my device is that, particularly where it isturnable on the pen barrel, it can be moved to such position that notonly will theregular filling lever be protected from accidentaloperation but my device can be used in place of the well known springclip for attaching the pen to a pocket.

The contact member of my lever operating member is preferably so madethat it cannot stick or jam when operating the filling lever.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation enlarged and partly insection and partly broken away showing a pen of my construction in ahuman hand, the parts being shown as they are when first starting towrite and when the ink is first required to flow.

Fig. 2 is a detail showing a slightly different position-of theoperating member with reference-to the filling lever.

Fig. 3 is a, view similar to Fig. 1,1but with the parts in the positionthey assume when the ink bag is compressed in order to be filled withink.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the pen filling lever and my operating memberin place to operate the filling lever.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with the operating member turnedaway from the filling lever and used as a clip to hold the pen in apocket.

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged perspective views of slightly different typesof operating members.

Fig. 8 is a perspective showing another type or modification ofoperating member in position on a pen.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 of another modification.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation partly in section of another modification.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a pen with the device shown in Fig. 9 inplace.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a pen partly in section with the deviceshown in Fig. 10 in place. i

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified form of fillinglever.

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 13 of a pen with the filling leveromitted.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 7 showing anothermodification.

In the drawings, F represents a human forefinger and T a thumb of thesame hand both presumably being the right hand.

A represents a paper on which the point P of a pen with a barrel B is towrite and C indicates the pocket of a vest or coat.

The fountain pen shown has a barrel B at the end of which is the usualpen point P through the top of which is the usual hole 9 and under whichis the usual duct 18 which connects with the ink bag 11 in the usualway.

L is the usual filling lever, pivoted in a slot S which extendslengthwise through the barrel B on a pivot 12, having a long arm 13 anda short arm 14 the latter adapted to engage with metal pressure strip 10resting on ink bag 11. Lever L and pressure strip 10, either or both,are the means for squeezing the ink bag 11. I represents the ink.

My filling lever operating member M is preferably made of elastic sheetmetal and includes a body 1 from which extend the two legs 2, 2 which inFig. 1 project towards the back, leaving a space 3 between them intowhich the contact member 0 at the end of the pressure arm can enter. Thepressure arm starts at 5 opposite the legs 2, 2 and is bent in a bow at'6 and thence runs along at 7 substantially parallel with the barrel B.

The pressure arm terminates in a contact member 0 which is ofsubstantially triangular form with its outside member 8 preferablyslightly curved and forming a greater angle with 7 than its insidemember 92.

'sition shown in Fig. 2.

nssnaa? The apex 90 of the contact member 0 is rounded so that it willslip easily on the filling lever L and will not jam when in the po-Contact member 0 must be of a little less width than slot S in barrel B.

The jaws 4, 4 are of such length and they and the body 1 are of suchsize that they can be slipped on the barrel B and will cling tightly inplace so that my operating member M can be slid lengthwise of barrel Band preferably can be turned thereon if desired.

When used for starting the ink, the member M is moved so that the member0 will touch near the tip of short arm 14 of lever L so that by holdingthe finger F in the position shown in Fig. 1, member 0 can push theshort end 14 of filling lever L down slightly or enough to start the inkI, I out from the duct 18 while at the same time, the rest of the humanfinger F serves as a stop to prevent the long arm 13 from rising toohigh or arm 14 from going too low and causing the ink to spout.

I find that by slipping member M up so that contact member 0 engages arm14 of lever L near pivot 12, as shown in Fig. 2, the parts will moveonly a distance sufiicient to start the ink and will then lock.

As shown in Fig. 3, however, for filling the pen the position of thehuman finger F can be slightly changed and the member M can be moved upto the left about half -way to pivot 12 whereby member 0 can be causedto depress short arm 14 of filling lever L sufiiciently to expel all theink and the air from bag 11 so that the whole bag is filled when theparts resume their normal position- As shown in Fig. 5, member M can beturned so that member 0 will not engage arm 14 and in this position,member M can be used as a holder or clip to attach the pin to a pocketsuch as C.

As shown in Fig. 7 the legs 2, 2 may be omitted if desired, but theyhelp to form a longer and firmer base.

In Fig. 8, I show a somewhat modified lever operating member having abody 30 which has two elastic jaws such as 34 together with the splitarm 35 which. starts at 30 and is bent around at 36 and thence continuesto 39. Split arm 35 has a downwardly projecting contact member 38 inposition to engage the short arm of an operating lever such as L. Body30 and arm 35 are both formed with a slot or split 33.

In this case, if placed in the position shown, the long arm 13 of leverL can rise up through arm 35in the slot 33, the distance of such risingbeing determined by the position of a finger such as shown in dottedlines at F. At 31, body 30 may be humped a little so that the bridge soformed can be positioned directly over pivot 12 or where it will serveas a stop nates in a contact member 58.

to limit the movement of lever L in starting the ink.

As shown in lfig. 9, I may have the body 0 at one end with the jaws a l,a l, and the elastic lever operating arm having a conact member 48 andbeing split or slotted at 43 so that, when in the position shown, thelong arm 13 of lever L can rise up through this split 43.

As a modification of the construction shown in Fig. 9, I can use anoperating member such as shown in Fig. 10 with a body 50, aws such as 5%and lever operating arm which not split and which termi- Thisconstruction however, win s body 50 very close to the reduced end 9i. ofbarrel B shown in l1 and this an objection in a short pen. I prefer themore compact type shown in l 1' to 10.

In referring to tie filling lever and in speaking of its short arm i land long arm 13, it is obvious that these might be of the same length or14 might o en be longer than What is intended by short arm is the 1pressure arm which is capable of going down through the slot S andcompressing the ink bag while what is meant by the long arm is the arm13 which ordinarily is used as a handle.

In fact, the lever L such as now generally used havin the two arms 13and let and pivoted between the ends 12 can be replaced as shown in Fig.by a lever pivoted in a slot 61 at one end 62 in such a way as to engzgo the usual metal strip 10 between ink bag 11 and the inside of abarrel In fact, as shown in Fig. 14, I can omit the filling lever suchas L entirely and replace it by a hole or slot through which the contactmember 0 can engage pressure strip 10 thus taking the place of thelever, the strip 10 becoming the sole ink bag squeezing member and beingengaged only by contact member 6.

My operating member whether it operates to squeeze the ink by directcontact with it, with a pressure strip or with. a filling lever whichhas a handle arm and a pressure arm, or a pressure arm alone, preferablyhas elastic jaws. If carefully fitted, however, these jaws may be rigid,but in every case, the operating member must be slidable and preferablyturnable on the barrel and the contact member such as 0 preferablynormally does not quite reach the surface of the pen barrel B.

In Fig. 15, I show an operating member T having a body 80, jaws 8%, 84,an elastic pressure arm 81 and contact member 82, the end of the arm 81being broadened at 88 to form a finger plate for convenience in.operating. This finger plate may be used for ornamentation, marking orother similar purposes.

1. The combination with a fountain pen having a barrel and a fillinglever which is so pivoted, formed and located in a slot in the barrelthat its outer surface is substantially flush with the barrel and whichhas a long and a short arm; of lever operating member formed with a bodyhaving two legs at one end, elastic jaws which elastically grip thebarrel and are slidable and turnable thereon and an elastic pressure armwhich extends from the body opposite the legs and is bent back over thebody and terminates in a triangular shaped contact member which iscurved on the outside and extends down and 530 proximate to the legs andto the short arm of the filling lever. i i

' 2. The combination with a fountain pen having a barrel and a fillinglever which is so pivoted, formed and located in a slot in the barrelthat its outer surface is substantially flush with the barrel and whichhas a long and a short arm;.of a lever operating member formed with abody having elastic jaws which elastically grip the barrel and areslidable and turn able thereon and an elastic pressure arm which extendsfrom and is bent back over the body and terminates in a contact memberwhich is curved on the outside and extends down and proximate to theshort arm from the body and is bent back over the body and terminates ina contact member which extends down and proximate to the short arm ofthe filling lever.

4. The combination with a "fountain pen having a barrel and a fillinglever which is so pivoted, formed and located in a slot in the barrelthat its outer surface is substantial-- ly flush with the barrel andwhich has a long and a short arm; of a lever operating member formedwith a body having elastic jaws which elastically grip the barrel andare slidable thereon and an elastic pressure arm which extends from thebody and terminates in a contact member which extends down and proximateto the short arm of the filling lever.

5. The combination with a fountain pen havinga barrel and a fillinglever which is so pivoted, formed and located in a slot in the barrelthat its outer surface is substantially flush with the barrel and whichhas a long and a short arm; of a lever operating member formed with abody having elastic jaws which elastically grip the barrel and are thatits outer surface is substantially slidable thereon and an elasticpressure arm which extends from the body and terminates in a contactmember which extends down and proximate to the short arm oi the fillinglever, said pressure arm having a slot through which the long arm of thefilling lever can pass.

6. The combination with a fountain pen having a tubular barrel throughwhich is a slot, an ink bag in the barrel, and means for squeezing saidink bag including a filling lever which is so pivoted, formed andlocated in said slot as to have a handle arm and a pressure arm, and anink bag pressure strip positioned proximate the slot in the barrel; ofan operating member formed with a body having elastic iaws whichelastically grip the barrel and are slidable and turnable thereon and anelastic pressure arm which extends from the body and terminates in acontact member which extends down and proximate said slot.

7. The combination with a fountain pen having a tubular barrel throughwhich is a slot, an ink bag in the barrel, and means for squeezing saidink bag positioned proximate the slot invthe barrel; of an operatingmember formed with a body having elastic jaws which elastically grip thebarrel and are slidable and turnable thereon and an elastic pressure armwhich extends from the body and terminates in a contact member whichextends down and proximate said slot.

8. The combination with a fountain pen having a tubular barrel throughwhich is a slot, an ink bag in the barrel, and means for squeezing saidink bag positioned proximate the slot in the barrel; of an operatingmember formed with a body having elastic jaws which grip the barrel andare slidable thereon and an elastic pressure arm which extends from thebody and terminates in a contact member which extends down and proximatesaid slot.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WVILLIAM 0. FORD.

